Three steelheading podcasts i continue to return to improve my swinging skills and hook up rate

Effective winter steelheading on a swung fly requires a lot of thinking.

You can’t mindlessly bomb casts to the far side of the river all day and expect to catch fish – you’ve got to be thoughtful about how you fish a run.

Trial and error is one way to learn effective strategies; conducting research is a better way.

I admit, it took me a while to realize that I wasn’t going to get into steelhead on the fly without some real work.

Therefore, when I’m driving to the Cowichan River on early winter mornings, I’ll play a podcast to get myself into the winter steelheading mindset.

I try to tap into the minds of the great winter steelhead anglers to improve my chances of success on the river that day; sometimes, it even pays off.

Here are the top three podcast episodes I continue to return to for tips and tricks.

Podcast: Wet Fly Swing Fly Fishing Podcast, Episode 062 – Winter Steelhead with Rob Crandall

“The fact of the matter is, 90% of the grabs that we get on the swung fly is the last third of the swing. That means a huge percentage of the time we’re fishing; we’re not hooking many fish. For me I’m thinking, why is that? – why not get the fly deeper during the earlier part of the swing?” – Rob Crandall

Rob Crandall has been guiding in Oregon for over 25 years and is one of Sage’s elite top 100 guides in the US.

In this Wet Fly Swing Podcast episode, Rob sets out five strategies he’s developed to catch more winter steelhead. The five steps are:

1. Cast-swing-step

2. Mend and hold

3. Cast-step-swing (variation on 1)

4. The slip swing

5. The slip step swing

While the above steps may seem basic, I assure you they’re not.

Crandall elaborates on each of these strategies in the podcast, and there is a lot of nuance in his directions to anglers – listen closely.

Many of his strategies aim to get the fly down deep fast and then slow the fly right down.

For example, here’s what he says about the slip swing (I’ve paraphrased a bit) in 4 above:

“I make a cast at 45 degrees downstream, and as it starts to straighten out, I make a mend, but when I make the mend, I’ve got some extra line in hand that I haven’t casts – it’s reserve line. It’s enough line that I can slip the extra line out of the rod tip and move the tip from 45 degrees downstream to 45 degrees upstream. Then, as the fly is settling into the swing, I lower the rod tip and bring the fly slowly across.”

Podcast: The Orvis Fly Fishing Guide, Advanced Steelhead Tips with Chuck Hawkins

This podcast is nearly a decade old, but its wisdom is timeless.

Some of the key takeaways for me are:

You’ve got to understand steelhead behavior (and have lots of patience)

Steelhead are naturally curious fish and often interact (note I didn’t say bite) with a fly multiple times before they eat it. In the episode, Hawkins describes a time when a steelhead bumped his fly over 10 times before he ultimately swallowed it.

If you’re swinging flies, you must resist the urge to immediately set the hook, or you’re going to lose a lot of fish. I’m getting better at this, but I’m still struggling to know when to set the hook. I feel like you develop this skill instinctively over time after you’ve lost a lot of fish, which I have.

Thinking about how to leverage a steelhead’s curiosity also stuck with me from this podcast. Hawkins talks about how you can never have too much flashabou on your fly (in the water he fishes anyway), suggesting that the flash arouses curiosity in steelhead.

Adapting techniques to conditions

Successful fishing for steelhead requires adjusting your swing techniques based on water depth, temperate, and other environmental factors (e.g., Hawkins talks about clear vs. cloudy skies, among other factors). You can’t just slap on a floating Skagit head and piece of T-11 and do the same thing all day as you move through different runs.

In the podcast, Hawkins asks listeners to think about how water temperatures affect travelling steelhead. He recounts how he sees the same people on the river fishing in the same pools no matter the temperature or water depth on a particular day.

The problem is, steelhead react and behave differently when the water temperature changes. According to Hawkins, at 45 to 55 degrees, fish are in one place, but at 41-45 degrees, they start moving to different areas in a river system. An angler must learn the runs he or she is fishing inside out and use environmental data to increase the chances of locating fish.

Hawkins also points out that in very cold water, steelhead move much slower but not necessarily deeper. In colder conditions, a smaller, heavier fly and a slower presentation is generally more effective.

Podcast: The Deep Wade Podcast, Episode 6, Five Adages of Swinging the Fly for Winter Steelhead

The Deep Wade is a relatively new podcast devoted to educating people about fisheries and watershed science. It’s run by a couple of guys named Nick and John, who are biologists with a passion for fly angling.

In one of their earliest episodes, they talk about the “five adages” of swinging the fly for winter steelhead, which they identify as:

1. A short rod and Skagit line is all one needs;

2. You’ve got to hit/tick bottom to catch steelhead;

3. There’s no need to wade deep;

4. Don’t set the hook; and,

5. Bright day, bright fly, or dark day, dark fly.

The value in this episode is in the level of detail Nick and John get into when unpacking each of these adages. They take a deep dive into their experiences with these beliefs, evaluate which ones hold (or not), and explain how their winter steelhead methods differ.

Take away

By implementing the knowledge and advice found in the above podcasts, I’ve improved the amount of hits and hookups I’m getting on my local river.

When I head out onto the river these days, I no longer feel like I’m just casting and waiting; instead, I’m hunting steelhead.